PRAYERS FOR PEACE: PRAY FOR AFGHANISTAN: Suicide bomber killed & woun...

2 October 2018

Peace and Security





Denouncing attacks and intimidation in the week since formal campaigning began for Afghanistan’s parliamentary elections next month, the United Nations voiced outrage on Tuesday at the death of 14 civilians, killed by a suicide bomber at a campaign rally. A further 42 were wounded.





“I am outraged by attacks deliberately targeting civilians seeking to exercise their basic right to participate in elections,” said Tadamichi Yamamoto, the UN Special Representative for Afghanistan, in a statement that called for an immediate end to election-related violence.



“This violence, including today’s reprehensible attack in Nangarhar, is an assault on the constitutional rights of the people of Afghanistan.”





The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) expressed concern around the level of violence early in the campaigning period for the 20 October elections, including intimidation and attacks against candidates, their agents and supporters.



UN Secretary-General António Guterres added his voice in a statement on Tuesday, condemning the series of lethal attacks, and reiterated that "deliberate targeting of civilians is a violation of international humanitarian law."



"The Secretary-General urges all parties to ensure a peaceful and orderly electoral process by creating a safe environment for political candidates to campaign and for citizens to exercise their right to assemble and vote," said the statement from his Spokesperson.



Since campaigning formally commenced on 28 September, there have been several attacks resulting in the killing of a candidate and three security guards of another candidate, as well as the shooting of a further candidate’s agent and son. “UNAMA urges all actors to halt all violence and intimidation against candidates and voters”, said the statement from the Mission.



Tuesday’s suicide attack appears to have deliberately targeted a crowd gathered for a campaign event, the agency said, stressing that Afghan civilians have borne the brunt of election-related violence in 2018.



It recalled the “disturbing pattern of attacks” at election-related facilities following the start of voter registration earlier this year, with the greatest loss of civilian life in a single incident, occurring on 22 April when a suicide attacker targeted a crowd gathered outside a national identity card distribution centre, in the capital Kabul, resulting in 198 civilian casualties.





https://news.un.org/en/story/2018/10/1022072PRAYERS FOR PEACE: PRAY FOR AFGHANISTAN: Suicide bomber killed & woun...: 2 October 2018 Peace and Security Denouncing attacks and intimidation in the week since formal campaigning began for Afghanistan’s parl...

UN-Habitat, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the UN Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) will join the United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLGA), in organizing the inaugural youth forum at the Africities Summit, to be held from 20-24 November, in Marrakech, Morocco

UN agencies inject youthful energy into sustainable development for urban Africa

World Bank/Bamidele Emmanuel Oladokun

Youth leaders discuss empowerment of young people and their potential for strengthening sustainable development at a meeting in Abuja, Nigeria.

2 October 2018

SDGs

Underscoring the importance of fully involving the young in decisions affecting their lives, three United Nations agencies announced an innovative partnership on Tuesday with African local governments, designed to inject youthful ideas and energy into urban planning policies.

Speaking at a press briefing, where the collaboration was announced, Christopher Williams, a Director at the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) highlighted the fresh “wisdom and insight” young people bring to planning initiatives.

“It is essential they are involved in [local government] initiatives systematically,” he said.

Under the partnership, UN-Habitat, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the UN Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) will join the United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLGA), in organizing the inaugural youth forum at the Africities Summit, to be held from 20-24 November, in Marrakech, Morocco.

The initiative is all the more crucial for Africa as nearly three-quarters of the continent is under-35, noted Daniel Schatz, Programme Officer with the UNODC in New York.

“The majority of young Africans have high hopes and ambitions. However, a mismatch exists between the aspirations of young people and opportunities available to them,” he said.

“As such it is critical that partners’ programming aligns with the vision African youth have for their future and understand their true needs and desires and taps into their energy and dynamism,” he added, outlining the immense benefits young people can bring.

Dubbed the Africites Youth Forum, specific activities to be held under the partnership include the Creative Lab – a competition for 15 to 35-year olds from Africa and the diaspora, to promote entrepreneurship, and boost the realisation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the African Union’s Agenda 2063.  The Forum will also include interactive workshops and consultative sessions on building safer and more secure cities for young people, especially young women and girls.

Wambui Kahara, a UCLGA Youth Champion, said that youth were Africa’s greatest resource:

“Young people are dynamic, energetic, resourceful, creative, innovative and adventurous”, she said, adding that they were “vital for Africa’s growth and development.”

Young people should be at the heart of implementation and monitoring of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Ms. Kahara continued, in particular SDG 11 which calls for inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable towns and cities by 2030.

https://news.un.org/en/story/2018/10/1022102

Wellness for Peace Education on Climate Change: Prime Minister Modi awarded for his extensive effo...

UN Photo/Deepak Malik


Secretary-General António Guterres (centre) honors Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India with the Champion of Earth award, the highest environmental honour of the United Nations, at Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra in New Delhi. UN Environment Executive Director Erik Solheim (right) looks on.

















3 October 2018




SDGs




United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on Wednesday conferred the Organization’s highest environmental honour on India’s Prime Minister, recognizing Narendra Modi’s efforts against climate change and pollution.


“Prime Minister Modi represents an extraordinary legacy,” said Mr. Guterres at the “Champions of the Earth” award ceremony, in the Indian capital New Delhi.


“Prime Minister Modi not only recognizes, knows and understands” the benefits of taking action to stop global warming, said the UN chief, but also “acts with enormous energy to make this change. And this leadership is today more necessary than ever.”


According to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), Prime Minister Modi has been recognized for his extensive efforts to control plastic pollution, including a pledge to eliminate all single-use plastic in India, by 2022. He has also been recognized for his joint initiative with French President Emmanuel Macron to champion the International Solar Alliance – a global partnership to scale up solar energy use and reduce dependence on fossil fuels.


In his prize-giving speech, Mt. Guterres called on other world leaders to draw lessons from India and apply them in their own circumstances to “win the race against climate change.”


He also highlighted that climate action and development are not contradictory but are mutually supportive.


“The green economy is the good economy. Technology is on our side. Those that will bet on the grey economy will have a grey future, and those that, like in India, are betting on the green economy will have a dominant role in the global economy in the decades to come,” said the Secretary-General.


Prime Minister Modi, in accepting the award, said that he was doing so on behalf of millions of Indians “who protect the environment each day.”


“From fisherfolk who only take what they need or tribal communities who think of forests as their family. We will never be able to tackle climate change without bringing climate into our culture. And this is why India is taking so much action for our climate,” said the Indian leader.





Giles Clarke


Secretary-General António Guterres pays visits to the Golden Temple in Amritsar, India, where he expressed his gratitude for a place that receives and shares with everybody.
Secretary-General shares a meal at a Langar


Also, on Wednesday, Secretary-General visited the Golden Temple in the city Amritsar, where he attended Langar – a community kitchen run by Sikh volunteers where people from all backgrounds and communities are provided nutritious food and clean water, at no cost.


During his visit, Mr. Guterres expressed his deep gratitude to the “wonderful practice that the Golden Temple represents, receiving everybody, sharing with everybody the food, but, more than the food, sharing this wonderful spirit of peace, of harmony, of understanding that we badly need in today’s world.”


The Langar at the Golden Temple is attended by thousands of people and pilgrims each day. It is the biggest community kitchen in the world, open 24 hours a day and uses no plastic or disposable utensils and cutlery.


Mr. Guterres is currently on his maiden visit to India as Secretary-General, during which he paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi on the 149th anniversary of his birth; inaugurated ONE UN House – the newly-refurbished building housing UN offices; held bilateral meetings with top Indian Government officials and spoke at the Mahatma Gandhi International Sanitation Convention, among other engagements.



















Paying respects at Gandhi memorial


On 2 October, the birth-anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, Secretary-General Guterres (right) paid his respects to the world leader of non-violence at Raj Ghat, a memorial dedicated to the Mahatma.


Giles Clarke



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UN Champions of the Earth award


Established by UNEP in 2005, the Champions of the Earth award recognizes “outstanding leaders” from Government, civil society and the private sector whose actions have had a positive impact on the environment.


Other winners of the Champions of the Earth award for 2018 are: Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat, an initiative creating high-quality vegetarian meat-alternatives; the Zhejiang River Chiefs programme, which works for protecting water from pollution as well as ecological restoration; Joan Carling, an indigenous and environmental rights activist; Cochin International Airport, the world’s first to be fully solar-powered; and French President Macron, for his international cooperation on environmental action.Wellness for Peace Education on Climate Change: Prime Minister Modi awarded for his extensive effo...: UN Photo/Deepak Malik Secretary-General António Guterres (centre) honors Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India with the Champion of Earth ...